SAG-AFTRA Members Ratify New Network Television Code Agreement
SAG-AFTRA members have voted to ratify a new National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting agreement, covering a broad swath of TV talk shows, reality shows and soap operas.
Over 94 percent of voting members voted “yes” on the contract, which is also known as the Network Television Code deal, the union announced late on Friday. The deal covers television titles not aired during primetime, as well as primetime content that is not considered “dramatic” and digital media work, including shows like Good Morning America, Jeopardy!, Saturday Night Live, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice, The Young and Restless, Tamron Hall, the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl.
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Voting on the tentative deal began on June 17 online and through select paper ballots after SAG-AFTRA negotiators reached a tentative deal with producers and broadcast networks in late May. The union’s National Board gave their stamp of approval to the deal, with 84.54 percent voting for the pact and 15.46 percent voting against, in mid-June.
“This agreement is a step toward elevating our consciousness and sensitivity regarding safe spaces for performers on set,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a statement. “That is a big, transformative win. I also am pleased that our negotiators made meaningful gains with new compensation and improved protections for our members.”
Important wage and benefit changes in the deal include an increase to minimum rates by three percent every year of the contract, with the new rates retroactive to July 1, 2021; a one percent boost to the benefit fund contribution rate; and fee increases for dancers working on awards shows and primetime variety shows (their extra rehearsal rate, overtime rates and overtime rates after 12-hour workdays were all boosted). The contract establishes a requirement that producers pay “scale” for promotional announcements for “new media” projects, with an extra 15 percent added to compensation after 13 weeks of use, and that any promotional announcements made for “traditional” media that are re-used in new media will incur additional pay (15 percent of the performer’s minimum rate). Singers will receive additional compensation (“doubling pay at 50% of the applicable dancer program fee,” the union says) when the job demands that they perform “complex choreography.”
Moreover, the deal compels producers of primetime awards shows and entertainment specials to offer housing at and transportation near L.A., New York, Washington, D.C. and Chicago broadcast centers. Housing and transportation is mandated by the agreement, moreover, “when exhaustion or inclement weather prevent safe driving,” the union said. The deal also includes language covering nudity and simulated sex equivalent to gains made in SAG-AFTRA’s TV/Theatrical contracts.
“This agreement was a direct product of member engagement and involvement. It achieved gains in a number of key areas that members said were most important to them, including for dancers, singers, promo announcers and stand-ins, among others,” SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a satement. “And achieving those gains was made possible thanks to the hard work of the Negotiating Committee, member leaders and staff.”
